CFP: #dLRN16 – Catalyzing Research Impact May 4, 2016

The second Digital Learning Research Network Conference (#dLRN16) will be hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington on October 21-22, 2016. Made possible by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, dLRN forms connections among researchers and educators to close the gap between research and practice. The participating researchers are leaders in innovative pedagogical approaches which have important implications for the future of higher education. First, the pace of societal and technological change necessitates a shortened timeline for research to produce practical impact. Secondly, dLRN adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to research. Complex and intractable problems cannot be addressed through a single method and a distributed approach can help create high-impact, broader, and economical change. The primary beneficiaries of the project’s outcomes will be underrepresented learners and institutions that are making the transition to digital learning. Additional information is available at http://linkresearchlab.org/dlrn/about/

The conference theme aims to bring together researchers who have a strong commitment to producing work that can transform teaching and learning in higher education – and are ready to do so in the next 1-3 years. Strong submissions will highlight ongoing research findings that are ready for dissemination and the potential for engagement beyond the investigator’s own team and project site.

We solicit submissions reporting on rigorous research on methodologies, studies, analyses, tools, or technologies for digital learning. #dLRN16 participants will seek to address important questions and issues including: How can we accelerate moving projects out of the research space and into practice broadly? How can we integrate contributions from multiple research projects to demonstrate how combining our theories, findings, or tools into a common infrastructure allows new knowledge to be scaled widely? How can we integrate collaborative and team-based learning opportunities into online courses to improve student engagement and learning? How can participation in onboarding activities and readiness courses (stand-alone and integrated into courses) facilitate pipeline-student transitions and improve eventual student outcomes? How do new conceptions of successful learners, like mindset, grit, hope, etc., help us design effective interventions?